


Take my hand; take my whole life, too.

by nanodayo



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Parents, Karushuu Week, M/M, Married Life, OOC-ish, School Reunion, implied Hazama/Terasaka, implied Isogai/Kataoka, mentions of Chiba/Hayami, mentions of Rio/Nagisa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:25:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7333096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanodayo/pseuds/nanodayo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Karma and Gakushuu are biological fathers to <a href="http://45.media.tumblr.com/7c1a8adcb3aa7d69b5e9855bf8f24ec9/tumblr_nyixxnBqZG1ui28jfo1_500.gif">Maki</a>. (<a href="http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/37500000/Nishikino-Maki-3-love-live-school-idol-project-37571473-450-405.gif">2</a>, <a href="http://img.gifmagazine.net/gifmagazine/images/546227/original.gif?1442483023">3</a>, <a href="https://rinscribble.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/wpid-http3a2f2f33-media_-tumblr-com2f219abe498ca33eec8fc77bac697771bb2ftumblr_n48gebirhj1s74h99o2_500.gif?w=1272">4</a>.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take my hand; take my whole life, too.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a huge universe [Carol](http://wuxingz.tumblr.com/) and I have created, in which Nagisa is married to Sakakibara Ren instead. However, I prefer Rio x Nagisa so that's how she ended up here. But mainly, because I don't feel confident enough to write a character like Ren at all. 
> 
> Carol and I have collaborated for this day's work, so make sure you check hers at [her tumblr](http://wuxingz.tumblr.com/post/147615817750/karushuu-week-day7-future-this-is-the-product) and show your support!
> 
> On a different note, it is entirely her fault this exists. She's the one who watched Love Live! and showed me Maki when I was starting to accept Karushuu in my life. If you've got any complaint about your feels, blame her, I am innocent. She's also the one who shipped Karushuu first, and made it her mission to shower me with fanarts when I started shipping them (like four months ago.)
> 
> By the way, I wrote this thinking that in their universe it's possible for two men to have biological children through in vitro fertilisation and surrogate mothers, in case anyone wanted to know.

Something was going on and Gakushuu wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know what it was.

 

There was nothing more ominous than Karma looking deep in thought as he fixed Maki’s bento box, but it was very real and it was happening, and now Gakushuu didn’t want to know at all.

 

“You’ll be picking Maki up today, right?”

 

“Yeah. Meeting?” Gakushuu asked, trying to be as careful as possible in case Karma got chatty and started spewing nonsense. It was only 8:00; definitely not the time to talk about whatever Karma was so focused on.

 

“With the complete legal team of Hori hospital,” Karma replied, getting Maki’s food in her bag and putting his coat on. “I’m taking you and Maki out tonight, though. It’s a surprise.”

 

There it was.

 

Gakushuu sighed and didn’t even try to make Karma explain whatever he was planning. He himself had things to worry about and dealing with Karma’s excuses wasn’t one of them. Still, he would appreciate it if Karma told him about his surprises in a better way.

 

“The memory of your annoyed face right now will get me through today,” Karma said walking back into the kitchen holding a sleepy Maki on one arm. “Say hi to daddy,” he told her.

 

“Good morning, dad,” Maki whispered, covering her mouth with her hand before yawning.

 

“Have a good day, baby,” Gakushuu pinched her left cheek, making her giggle. “Daddy will pick you up today, okay?”

 

Maki nodded, hugging Karma’s neck and closing her eyes.

 

“See you later, _daddy_ ,” Karma laughed, walking past him.

 

Gakushuu’s thoughts were a litany of ‘what did I like about him?’ and ‘why did I marry him?’. He asked himself the same questions every day. But then, he caught a glimpse of Maki’s wild hair and Karma’s back as they walked out the door and realised he wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Growing up had changed him quite a bit, and that was a fact he wished he could ignore. It was all because of Maki, really. Everything had changed once she became a part of their lives, except Karma; he was still an annoying brat.

 

 

 

Gakushuu decided to walk to Maki’s school since it was close by, and waited till she came out.

 

Her hair had been braided and a rose of Sharon decorated her left ear.

 

“Daddy!” She shouted and smiled widely, as if seeing him was the best thing ever. She ran towards him after saying goodbye to her friends.

 

“Hello, baby. Did you have fun today? Your hair looks really pretty.”

 

“Miss Kunizuka said my hair looked messy so she fixed it,” she seemed pleased that she got a compliment. “Where are we going?”

 

Gakushuu smiled, “home. Where else could we go?” He saw Maki frown and cross her arms.

 

“Then why did you come pick me up? I can go home by myself, dad,” she pouted.

 

He sighed.

 

“You really are your father’s child, aren’t you?” He said fondly. “Your dad wants to get some groceries for dinner, and Papa asked me to get you a new dress for tonight,” Maki’s face brightened as she heard the news. “We can get ice cream afterwards.”

 

 

 

Gakushuu walked at Maki’s pace through the shop. There weren’t many things he needed, and he had no rush to get home, since there was no one waiting for them.

 

Maki had picked a flowery dress even though it was the middle of spring and it was still chilly at night, but she’d agreed to wear a jumper over it and shoes instead of sandals. She’d also picked a flowery coat for Karma and Gakushuu was highly tempted to actually buy it and gift wrap it for him; if Maki had picked it, then he’d have to wear it to wherever they were going, regardless of how hideous it was. The only reason he didn’t buy it was that they didn’t have Karma’s size. Gakushuu was still disappointed about it.

 

He grabbed some onions and tofu and walked to the fruits aisle.

 

“Fancy seeing you here, Maki,” Gakushuu heard Karma say, smiling as he bent down to pick her up. “Did you buy anything pretty?”

 

She nodded, “yes. I found something really pretty for Papa too, but daddy said it was too big, so we had to leave it at the store.”

 

“Ah, that’s too bad,” he replied. “Maybe I should eat more so I can fit into it.”

 

“What are you even doing here?” Gakushuu asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at a meeting right now?”

 

“Does seeing me bother you that much?” Karma smirked. “Luckily, we reached an agreement so it ended pretty early. I thought I’d find you here instead of going home; I also want to get some things.”

 

Gakushuu was so used to Karma’s ways that he almost missed the evil glint in his eyes. He’d keep an eye out for Hori hospital for a while.

 

 

 

After eating dinner, Karma got on his feet and helped Maki get ready to go out. She’d been so careful to not mess up her hairdo that she was very upset to find out that the flower had wilted. Her sadness quickly passed when she saw herself in the mirror; the flowery dress matched her small blue shoes and jumper, and her hair looked far more natural than the hairdo was.

 

“I look like a princess!” She exclaimed, beaming at him and Karma.

 

“You’re always a princess, though,” Gakushuu told her.

 

“But now I look like one!” She stubbornly replied, making Karma snort.

 

“Alright. Is Princess Maki ready to go?” Maki nodded enthusiastically. “Then, is the King, Gakushuu, ready as well?”

 

“Yes, you peasant. Your King and Princess are ready.”

 

They quietly made their way to Karma’s car which was not a good presage. It drove Gakushuu crazy not knowing where they were going, and it didn’t help that Karma was smiling as he drove out of their house.

 

“How was your day?” Karma asked him a few moments later.

 

“Uneventful,” Gakushuu told him; “there are one or two new teachers with a lot of potential, but they lack empathy. Other than that, today was a rather boring day.”

 

Karma hummed. “I never thought I’d hear you say something like that.”

 

“It’s your and your friends’ fault. Shut it,” Gakushuu replied, rolling his eyes as Karma chuckled.

 

“How about you, Maki? Did you have fun at school today?”

 

“Yes!” She said excitedly. “Miss Kunizuka did my hair and after that she showed us how to properly do calligraphy, and then we played the piano.”

 

“That sounds like loads of fun,” Gakushuu told her and Karma agreed with him.

 

“Should we buy her a piano?” Karma asked Gakushuu a couple of minutes later.

 

“Later,” Gakushuu replied. “More importantly, why are you driving in the direction of my school?”

 

“Didn’t your father tell you?” Karma supressed a laugh, “he’s more reliable than I thought.”

 

Well. That was new and definitely, completely and absolutely not good. What did his father have to do with Karma’s surprise? No matter how hard Gakushuu thought, he couldn’t find a reason for his father to cooperate.

 

“Why should my father tell me about the things you do?” He replied.

 

“He wouldn’t, because he likes me a lot more than you,” Karma replied looking calm. Gakushuu knew he was enjoying himself. “In any case, seeing as he is the director of the school, I asked him for a small favour.”

 

“You seem to have forgotten that I am the director now, though.”

 

Karma tried to look as surprised as possible, “oh, I’m sorry! It’s just that your presence is not even half as strong as his.”

 

Gakushuu took a deep breath.

 

“You should have married him, then,” he said, turning around to find Maki had fallen asleep. “What did you ask from him?”

 

“You’re a lot more my type, though,” Karma told him, “you get jealous easily and make pretty babies.”

 

“That doesn’t answer my question, Karma.”

 

“Relax,” Karma reached out and grabbed Gakushuu’s right hand. “All of class E has finally found a moment to reunite,” he started explaining. “Everyone’s probably already there since the meeting time was an hour ago. Your father gave us permission to use the main building’s energy and helped us illuminate the path to the old building.”

 

Oh, right. Class E. All of them together.

 

Gakushuu couldn’t relax at all. He hadn’t seen most of them since their graduation from middle school, and he only knew of two of them that actually knew about him and Karma, and Maki. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about meeting them after so many years. After all, they’d been part of the reason he’d changed so much.

 

“Do they even know we’re married?” Gakushuu asked as Karma parked right next to Rio’s SUV.

 

Karma grinned wickedly, unfastening his seatbelt, “the best part of this surprise is that it would work both ways.”

 

They got out of the car, Gakushuu carrying Maki as she started to wake up.

 

“Daddy, where are we?”

 

“We’re at daddy’s workplace, and we’re going to meet Papa’s friends from school.”

 

His reply helped Maki fully wake up. She was always asking about Karma’s school years, ever since she’d found out he and Gakushuu had gone to the same school before going to university. She was familiar with their faces since Karma had an outrageous yearbook with pictures from his school days, and Karma often told them stories about the things they used to do.

 

“You know, Karma,” Gakushuu started, “I think I’m more surprised at the fact that you’re willing to come to a reunion like this than actually coming here myself. Something about you telling me you were a lone wolf back in the day…”

 

“You sure remember the most useless things,” Karma smiled. “I agreed not only because Nagisa pestered me about it for months, but also because it is a great opportunity to show off my family.”

 

Only Karma could say something that cheesy as nonchalantly as he had. Gakushuu opted to stay silent.

 

“The lights look so pretty, Papa,” Maki stated in wonder, and they really did. They made the woods look like a picture from the 20th century or, maybe, a Miyazaki film, and gave off a relaxing vibe.

 

“Right?!” Karma replied happily; Gakushuu secretly loved that side of Karma. “Your dad’s old man helped us with this, you should tell him you liked them next time we see him.”

 

Maki asked Gakushuu to put her down and, as soon as her feet touched the ground, she grabbed their hands and walked between them.

 

“When are we going to visit grandma and grandpa? I miss them,” she asked, looking up.

 

“We have to ask them when they’re free,” Karma explained, “they’re very busy, like us.”

 

Maki sighed, “I’m not busy.”

 

“What about school?” Gakushuu asked her, looking ahead of him as the old building was finally in front of them. They were finally there.

 

“School is too easy; I like it better when you and Papa teach me.”

 

“I’ll go in first,” Karma said, “just casually walk into the room after me.”

 

Gakushuu sighed heavily, still holding Maki’s hand. He knew he wouldn’t feel nervous, but now that he was about to go into a room of people who were oblivious to their classmate’s private life, he was starting to worry about their reactions. Surely they wouldn’t hold a grudge after so many years, right?

 

“Are you nervous?” He asked Maki, who shook her head in response. “Let’s go, then,” he said walking into the building.

 

He heard many questions being shot in very loud voices from every corner of the room, and walked into the room just as a man he vaguely recognised as Okajima asked Karma where his wife was. Gakushuu confidently walked towards Karma, but he felt Maki grab his leg and hide behind him.

 

“Oi, Karma! You brought Asano? He wasn’t in class E, was he?” Terasaka asked, looking confused and, quite frankly, very dumb.

 

“I thought you hated each other,” Hinano added just as confused.

 

Gakushuu just stood there, saying nothing. Seeing the confusion on their faces as they looked back and forth between him and Karma was more entertaining than he’d initially thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Karma was trying to contain his laughter just as much as he himself was. Just then, he saw Kayano jump from where she was, covering her mouth.

 

“Who’s that kid?”

 

Gakushuu looked down and, sure enough, Maki was peeking from behind him, probably trying to put a name to each face.

 

“Ah,” Hazama replied, “she’s Asano’s daughter; I’ve seen them reading together at the library.”

 

“Nagisa!” Maki shouted, running towards him.

 

Gakushuu crossed his arms and felt himself smirk. He could guess Karma was just about to drop the bomb, and the possibility of everyone going berserk was high. Maybe they should have done this sooner.

 

“Nagisa is popular with the kids as usual,” Kayano said, “but how does Asano’s daughter know him? Is he a teacher at her school?”

 

“Not really, no, though she would love it,” Karma replied, grinning as he put his left arm around Gakushuu’s shoulder. “She’s Maki, our daughter, and this is Asano Gakushuu, my husband.”

 

The whole class fell silent.

 

Maki turned her head around and looked at Gakushuu, then Karma and back to Nagisa, who was playing with her and her hands as Rio fixed the loose strands of hair that had fallen out of the braids.

 

“Hey, come on,” Rio said, “are you really surprised about that? I mean, I find it more surprising that Nagisa is married to a woman.”

 

“Rio…” Nagisa sighed.

 

Karma snorted, “that depends on whether we see you as a woman or not.”

 

“He does, and your opinion doesn’t matter,” she replied, covering Maki’s ears with her hands.

 

Gakushuu let out a sigh; the silence was dragging on for too long and he was starting to get bored.

 

“Nice to meet you all,” he said in his best teacher voice; “I hope we can all get along.”

 

“Of course we’ll get along well, right everyone?” Hara cut right in, smiling and looking around at everyone in the room. “However, Karma, I’m sure we’re all having a hard believing what you just said.”

 

“I think Terasaka is the one having the most trouble with it,” Karma chuckled.

 

Gakushuu snorted. He looked over to where Terasaka was, and he saw Hazama holding a hand over his mouth while she pulled at his right ear in what seemed to be a very painful way. He was about to say something again when he heard a high pitched squeal.

 

“You would so fit that manga where the main characters fell for each other in high school and reunited after ten years!”

 

For a second, everyone’s attention turned towards the girl who had said those words. Gakushuu couldn’t really remember her name, but he had a vague idea of who she was; Karma always talked about how funny her nickname was back when they were at school.

 

“Now that everything’s been cleared up, we should go outside and drink,” Isogai said, “we have prepared special lights, beer and seats, and Karma’s finally here. Let’s continue our conversation outside, shall we?”

 

Gakushuu felt Karma’s hand in his for the second time that night, and it was probably because they were surrounded by people Karma felt comfortable around, but Gakushuu could feel his giddiness, even though it didn’t show on his face.

 

He walked outside still holding Karma’s hand. Maki had stayed behind with Nagisa because he’d promised to show her a magic trick to make the lights go on, and she didn’t hesitate to accept; it wasn’t every day that she got Nagisa to teach her things, let alone _magic_.

 

“There are only 28 seats, though,” Isogai told them, “we were expecting Karma to bring someone, but not a child too.”

 

“We didn’t even know he had one,” Kataoka quipped.

 

“It’s fine,” Karma replied, “Gakushuu can sit on my lap when Maki comes out.”

 

At that moment, a large amount of yellow string lights started to light up. Gakushuu realised everyone was looking at them in silence, some smiling. It definitely looked good, but he reasoned it probably meant something entirely different to class E.

 

Even if Karma liked talking about his days in class E and that monster teacher of theirs, there were things Gakushuu still didn’t know about that had happened. He figured he was in no position to ask, either, but now that he was in a group where everyone had a shared experience, curiosity was starting to get the best of him once again.

 

“It really looks like that night, doesn’t it?” Hinano said in a soft voice.

 

“It does,” Chiba replied.

 

“I think it looks much prettier,” Hayami said, handing Gakushuu a beer; “because of that year and, especially, that night, we have all grown up to be humans our teacher would be proud of, and now we’re reminiscing about it together. I think he’s pleased wherever he is.”

 

Everyone agreed with Hayami. Gakushuu was starting to understand what was going on.

 

“It’s even better because now we’re able to smile when we think about it,” Kayano said thoughtfully. “Both him and my sister must be really happy to see us right now.”

 

“I think he’s probably sobbing and being gross as usual,” Itona replied absentmindedly.

 

Gakushuu saw Nagisa and Maki walking hand in hand from one person to the other; Nagisa was probably introducing her to everyone.

 

It felt like it’d been an eternity since that one time he had felt so jealous and out of character because he thought Karma had feelings for Nagisa. It amused him to no end that the person he had once despised so much was one of his own daughter’s favourite people. Like father like daughter, they say. His jealousy lasted for years, until he’d found out about Nagisa’s engagement and the reason behind Karma and Nagisa’s closeness. At least Nagisa, being as gracious as always, had been understanding and told him it was alright.

 

Gakushuu sat on the chair beside Karma and saw Rio walk towards them, beer in hand.

 

“That’s not your chair,” Karma told him. Rio extended her hand to give him the can of beer she was holding.

 

“He’s not drinking tonight,” Gakushuu grabbed Karma’s beer instead; “he’s driving back home, and he’s already saying nonsensical things.”

 

“Does he ever make sense?” Nagisa asked, sitting on the chair beside him. Gakushuu gave him the extra beer, which Nagisa took politely, explaining he couldn’t drink at all while Karma laughed in the back. He definitely wanted to hear that story.

 

Isogai and Okuda walked over and started talking with Rio, Nagisa and Karma, occasionally dragging Gakushuu into the conversation, even though they didn’t have many memories together. It made him see class E on a different light. He’d noticed with Karma that, even though it took some time for him to stop using brute force to solve most things, class E’s third year of middle school had been more than anyone at the main building imagined. Now that he could see everyone interacting, it was plain to see how good their teacher must have been.

 

He looked around and saw Maki laughing and talking to the two people Karma usually referred to as ‘the sniper duo’; he only remembered the girl’s name: Hayami. She looked like she was having as much fun as Maki was, while the guy looked at them with a smile on his face. Gakushuu knew Maki was adorable and had the ability to befriend anyone she wanted, but seeing her getting along with so many adults was a different thing. It didn’t seem like many of them cared who their parents were, which put him even more at ease.

 

“How are you feeling?” Nagisa asked him a while later, after everyone had started moving seats so they could talk to different people.

 

“Surprised,” Gakushuu replied without missing a beat; “everyone’s been okay with the news, Maki seems to have found a new best friend and Karma looks like he’s having fun.”

 

Nagisa nodded, “well, we aren’t 15 anymore, are we?” He chuckled. “You were like this with me, too; you hated me, but then, one day, you didn’t anymore.”

 

“I guess you’re right,” Gakushuu took a swig of his beer, looking to where Karma now had Terasaka in a headlock while Hazama held his arms. “It still feels strange being here, considering I didn’t know about this at all.”

 

Nagisa followed Gakushuu’s gaze; “everyone that’s here tonight has changed loads since middle school, and that’s to be expected,” Nagisa told him with a faint smile on his face, “even you are different now, right?” He sighed. “So, why is it that Karma is the only exception to that?”

 

There was one thing that Gakushuu would never admit to, and it was how much he enjoyed the weariness with which Nagisa talked about Karma. He found it hilarious, given that Nagisa was still friends with Karma after so many years – and, honestly, so many headaches. Maybe it was because he was married to someone similar to him.

 

“I’ve got to give it to you for being so patient,” Gakushuu laughed again. Nagisa let out yet another sigh.

 

At that moment, both of them heard two voices that seemed to come from the path downhill; it was a man and a woman, and the woman sounded excited. Gakushuu saw Nagisa’s face light up as the voices got closer, probably recognising them.

 

By the time the couple had reached the circle of arranged chairs, many had already stood and walked up to them, greeting them warmly. Gakushuu realised they were the ones acting as class E’s official teachers when the octopus was their actual homeroom teacher. He knew they were married since Karma had a picture of them in their wedding attire exactly where they were at the moment.

 

“Asano,” the man greeted him after everyone had calmed down enough, “didn’t expect to find you here, but it’s good to see you.”

 

“Likewise, Mr. Karasuma,” he replied, sounding too formal even to himself; “Karma dragged me here, but it’s been a relaxing evening.”

 

“Oh,” he sounded surprised. “Well, it’s to be expected that you’re friends now; after all, you were rival geniuses back in the day.”

 

Gakushuu didn’t bother to correct him or explain that they were more than friends; it was too much work. He’d find out sooner rather than later anyway. He knew Karma and the man saw each other frequently due to work, but he supposed Karma really held back from talking about Maki to the people he was close to. Not even Rio would know about their marriage and daughter were she not married to Nagisa.

 

“Darling, I told you we should have brought our daughter!” Irina shouted at Karasuma; “Hayami and Chiba brought their child!”

 

“Uh,” Hayami said, “she’s very adorable like me, but she’s not our daughter, right?” She asked Maki, smiling down at her. Maki nodded, scowling a little at Irina.

 

“Then who are your parents?” Irina asked her, bending her legs so they would be at eye level. “You’re so pretty!”

 

Gakushuu knew Maki was feeling intimidated by her, but he figured she was safe as long as she was with Hayami, so he wouldn’t step in. In any case, it should be Karma the one to say something since he knew the woman better, but he seemed to be relaxed.

 

Maki lifted her tiny hand and pointed towards Gakushuu first, as she always did.

 

“Oh, so your daddy is Asano?” Irina asked her. She seemed to be a completely different person when dealing with children. It made Gakushuu wonder about her own daughter a little bit, if anything, to ignore the fact that Karma had openly nodded when she asked. “Then who’s your mum?”

 

Maki shook her head, “I don’t have one,” she said, sounding small; “it’s just daddy, Papa and I,” she added, this time pointing at Karma.

 

The look on Irina’s face was somewhere between disbelief and horror, and a few of the people around her were laughing loudly at her expression. Karasuma looked surprised, too, but still serious.

 

It took Irina more time than Gakushuu thought to let the news sink in. Karma had sat beside him again and told him that she would probably explode when she finally understood what was going on, all of this while fishing his phone out of his pocket and recording a video. Some things never changed, really.

 

“What do you mean Asano and Karma have a child together!?” Irina started, laughing a bit like a madwoman while looking around to see if she was being pranked. “She’s too pretty! She can’t be those two’s daughter,” she yelled, pointing at them; “didn’t you two hate each other!?” The fire in her eyes made Gakushuu chuckle.

 

“Why did everyone assume we hated each other back then?” Karma wondered out loud.

 

“Is that what surprises you!?” Kanzaki, Yada and Maehara shouted in unison.

 

Everything slightly calmed down after a couple of minutes. Karasuma had had to step in to calm Irina down, but she was still shaken up. Her reaction had been priceless, though. Hara told them between laughs that that had been her own reaction earlier, except she hadn’t exteriorised it.

 

“Oi, Karma!” Irina whined, looking at Maki once more, “I hope you’ve been teaching her self-defence methods; her beauty is going to be either her best weapon or her worst curse.”

 

“She’s just turned six,” Karma told her, “still young enough to rely on her parents.”

 

Irina chuckled humourlessly, “parents aren’t more powerful than war and disaster, Karma.”

 

“That’s enough, Irina,” Karasuma hissed. Gakushuu could see Karma wasn’t bothered by her words at all; instead, he looked sympathetic, though it was almost imperceptibly.

 

“Why?” She frowned, “I’m just saying that because I know!” she whined again; “and I know loads of lifelong techniques that I could teach her for free!”

 

Gakushuu had heard from Karma about her techniques countless times, so he had to suppress his laughter as he remembered one time Karma said that, even though her techniques were absolutely impressive, he would rather sign Maki up for ninjutsu, judo and kendo than have her be trained by his former teacher.

 

“I’m sorry,” Karma said, sounding as unapologetic as always, “but I must decline.”

 

She yelled at Karma how much of an ungrateful student he was and that she shouldn’t have been so kind to offer her services for free.

 

Everyone had tried their best, but no one could really hold their laughter, not even Gakushuu. For an adult, her tantrums were rather funny and oddly adorable.

 

“Are there any other surprises I should be aware of?” Irina asked once most people had sat down on their chairs. “And why are Asano, Tadaomi and I standing?”

 

Kataoka scratched her nape sheepishly, “well, you never confirmed with us that you were coming, and Karma brought Asano without telling us as well,” she and Isogai signalled to their own chairs, “but you can take our seats.”

 

The couple sat down as Takebayashi stood up. Gakushuu remembered him pretty well, but he had never tried contacting after middle school. Karma always talked about him and Okuda, since they were working together on finding a way to regenerate damaged bone marrow cells without a transplant, and Karma was unusually interested in every little development of their studies, but even then, that was all he knew about his former classmate.

 

“I do have something to tell you, now that we’ve all gathered here tonight,” Takebayashi said, looking around the circle of people.

 

“Did you succeed on your latest project?” Kanzaki asked, looking excitedly between him and Okuda.

 

Takebayashi shook his head, “not yet,” he told her smiling, sounding humble about his ambition. “But we finally succeeded on taking care of our personal lives,” everyone chuckled at that. Okuda stood up as soon as the words left Takebayashi’s mouth and held onto his arm, a smile spreading on her face. “We’re getting married next month and we would appreciate it if you could come.”

 

The reaction from class E this time was warmer; everyone looked genuinely happy and absolutely thrilled about it, and different types of congratulations and encouraging words could probably be heard from the main building.

 

It reminded Gakushuu of the things his mother used to tell him back when he and Karma started dating. She said he looked happier even though she didn’t know what usually went down behind closed doors, and that she knew it was love because when he smiled, he did it from the heart. Looking at Okuda and Takebayashi smiling and talking excitedly with the rest of their friends was all it took for him to understand his mother’s words.

 

He watched Karma stand between them and put his arms around their shoulders, pinching Takebayashi’s left cheek while smiling down at Okuda. He could see Karma’s lips moving, but couldn’t make out the words he was saying, so he’d ask him later; he was either congratulating them or saying something Gakushuu did not want to know.

 

Gakushuu then looked around and saw an empty handed Hayami. Four seats further he saw Nagisa holding a slumbering Maki as Rio held her arms over Maki’s legs so she wouldn’t feel cold. He checked his clock and it was in fact way past Maki’s bedtime, so he got up from Karma’s seat and walked towards him and his friends.

 

“Congratulations on your engagement,” he sincerely told the couple.

 

“Thanks,” Okuda said. “Congratulations on surviving your marriage,” she shot back, chuckling.

 

She had a point, so Gakushuu only nodded and smiled.

 

“Karma,” he whispered, “Maki’s fallen asleep on Nagisa.”

 

Karma straightened up and checked his wristwatch, “well, it is time we went home.”

 

“I would have never imagined you’d be such a family man, Karma,” Yoshida said, walking up to them.

 

“I’m a man of many hidden talents,” he replied calmly, making the other three laugh; Gakushuu knew the underlying tone of his words better than they thought.

 

They said their goodbyes, many of their past schoolmates telling both him and Karma not to be strangers and to come to their dinners sometime so their own kids could befriend Maki. Gakushuu nodded; it was a nice idea and Maki would certainly like it. He was sure she’ll ask to see Hayami at some point.

 

 

 

They got home 25 minutes later.

 

It was a Friday, which meant no early morning the next day, so Gakushuu had preferred to relax in the backseat with Maki still asleep on his chest. He hadn’t realised he’d dozed off until he felt Karma shaking him softly by the shoulders.

 

“I’ll tuck Maki in, so get up and in the house, will you?”

 

Even though he was still half asleep, he noticed a softness in Karma’s voice that hadn’t been there before. He sighed, dragging himself out of the car, locking it after himself.

 

He shuffled tiredly towards the bathroom for a quick shower before bed. He hated feeling like an old man, and a nice shower would give him a small power up. He wanted to know what was going through Karma’s head after the events of the night; after all, it wasn’t every day that Karma lowered his guard around him.

 

He got into his pyjamas, black sweatpants and a white tshirt, and dried his hair with the towel before walking out of the bathroom. The kitchen lights were on, so he walked there and found Karma fixing three bento boxes.

 

“Are you restless?” He asked Karma.

 

Karma hummed questioningly, “not really. It’s just that Maki will probably skip breakfast since she’s out cold, and I don’t have to go into the office till the afternoon. Do you have to go work tomorrow?” He carefully put the lid on the boxes and looked up; “I just don’t fancy waking up early unless it’s strictly necessary.”

 

“My mother would force me to divorce you if she knew I’m letting Maki eat food from the night before,” he replied. “I have some things to do tomorrow, so I appreciate this, though. I’ll be taking Maki with me.”

 

“See?” Karma smirked, “what would you without your thoughtful husband?”

 

“Cook more often,” he said immediately.

 

“That’s cold.”

 

Gakushuu laughed, “reality usually is.”

 

They talked about other minor things as they both worked on cleaning and organising their kitchen. They decided to get new suits for the wedding they’d be attending next month, as well as new clothes for Maki, and to actually keep more in touch with their friends.

 

When they were done, they walked out of the kitchen, Karma turning the lights off after himself. Gakushuu walked towards Maki’s bedroom and saw her uncovered, so he bent down to cover her again and kiss her goodnight. He saw she was wearing her favourite pyjamas, even though Karma was still wearing the clothes he’d gone out with, and smiled; he would never admit that Karma was indeed very thoughtful when it came to himself and his family.

 

He turned around and saw Karma standing at the door, arms crossed. She ushered him out and closed Maki’s door.

 

“Are you not going to shower before bed?” He asked him.

 

“I showered before going out, so no.”

 

Gakushuu got into bed as soon as he walked into their room and waited until Karma finally joined him.

 

“Today was nice, wasn’t it?” Gakushuu said casually.

 

Karma nodded, “did you enjoy it?”

 

“Did you?” Gakushuu shot back. “It was fun; I had a lot of fun watching everyone’s faces when you told them who me and Maki are.”

 

“I knew you’d like it,” Karma laughed. “If someone asks if I said this, I’ll deny it, but it felt good being honest for once,” he said, sounding more serious than before.

 

“Seems to me that you were scared of their reaction,” Gakushuu teased.

 

“Excuse me, I am no Gakushuu going to class A’s reunion by myself,” Karma retorted evilly.

 

They continued their banter for a while until they were too tired to go on.

 

“Should I wake you up before I go tomorrow?” Gakushuu asked after a long yawn.

 

“Only if you want me add peanuts to your dinner.”

 

“Got it.”

 


End file.
